


Borrowed Time

by simplyn2deep



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: (it doesn't happen in much detail), Canonical Character Death, Gen, dealing with death of family members
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-02-28 17:19:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18760924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplyn2deep/pseuds/simplyn2deep
Summary: When Steve's Aunt, his only living relative, besides his sister and niece, becomes ill, he does everything he can to convince them to come back to Hawaii so he can help with her care.





	Borrowed Time

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2019 H50 Big Bang on tumblr.
> 
> Also, I don't know anything about cancer treatment or the process to become a nurse outside of what I did a google search for.

**Part 1: Steve finds out about Deb's cancer...oh and she's getting married**

The announcement came about three hours before the call did. Steve’s aunt was getting married.

And she wanted Steve to come to Los Angeles to meet Leonard and help Mary with the small engagement party.

And she had cancer.

“Are you still there?” Deb asked. “I think the line went dead,” she said to someone else. “Hello?”

“Yeah…I’m still here Deb,” Steve said after he overcame his shock.

_Cancer._

“So, what do you say, GI Stevie? When can we expect you here to help Mary?”

“Just…hold up,” he took a breath, “is Mare there?”

“Yes. She’s taking care of Joan at the moment.” Deb replied, “Oh wait, here she comes. Mare, your brother wants to talk to you. I think he’s in shock over me getting married…before him no less.” Deb laughed as she handed the phone off.

“Hey Steve,” Mary said “So, Deb getting married is something great, right?! You’re going to love Leonard when you meet him.”

Steve looked around the room he was in. He was alone in his office, but he walked out on to the balcony before answering his sister. “What the hell, Mary!” he hissed. “Deb has cancer?!”

Mary gave an uneasy laugh. “Yeah about that…she said she wanted to tell you in person when you came out here for the party.”

“Then I guess she didn’t think her doctors would send me a registered letter about it,” Steve said with a sigh.

“No, she knew about that,” Mary replied. “She has both of us on some medical directive paperwork. I got mine in person since I’ll probably be the primary contact person, but then Deb decided that you needed to be added.”

“How long have you known about it?” Steve asked.

“About six months,” Mary said, “but apparently she’s been dealing with this for a year on her own.”

“Jesus, Mary! Six months?! Why didn’t anyone call to tell me?”

“I wanted to, but it wasn’t my place to tell,” Mary said. “And she’s getting better now.”

“Alright. I need to wrap up some stuff here and I’ll get the next flight to LA. I’ll be there by the end of the week, no later than next Sunday.” Steve said. “Is there any earth shattering news I need to know about? You aren’t getting married, are you?”

Mary laughed hard at that. “Not even close. I mean, I just started dating again. I haven’t even introduced him to Joan, but Deb likes him. You’ll meet him when you come out.”

Steve smiled at his sister’s excitement. “I’m happy for you. What else?”

“And you'll also be happy to know that Joan's father has FINALLY started working with me on this co-parenting thing. I told you that I would get him to see things my way.”

“That’s even better!” Steve said, genuinely happy for his sister and niece. “How long has this new development been going on?”

“Close to a year now,” Mary said after she gave it some thought. “We’re still going off the court order, but he’s been way more willing to take Joan if I get called in to cover a flight.”

“I’m really happy things are working out with you and him. You know I liked him, and I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you, but co-parenting Joan with him is the best for everyone.” Steve replied. “Have you given any more thought to your travel problems?”

“Gave my notice three months ago to the airline and I’ll be starting nursing school,” Mary added.

“That’s great Mare!” Steve exclaimed. “I’m glad you finally made that decision. Do you need any help with it?”

“Well…” Mary began hesitantly, “I took an advance on the money left from what Mom and Dad left us.”

“I’m glad. That’s what the money is for,” Steve said as a gentle reminder. He knew Mary had a hard time taking from it, whereas Steve was the complete opposite and took his entire share and put it into his business that he started with two other friends.

“Thanks,” Mary said softly. “I always feel so bad taking from it. I mean, I took a big part of it and put into savings for Joanie, but there’s still so much of it.”

Deb and Steve had to continually remind her that the money was there for her to use and since she became old enough to draw from it, she had only dipped in once or twice over the last ten years.

“Mom and Dad would love to know that you’ve set aside for Joan and that you’re using it to go back to school. They’d be proud of you and I’m definitely proud of you.”

Mary sniffed some and thanked Steve again before ending the call with a promise to pick him up from the airport once he got his flight sorted.

Steve walked back into his office to see his two business partners looking at him through the window from the shared reception area. He walked out of his office to join them. “It’s good guys. It’s just my sister and Aunt.”

Chin and Lou nodded their heads. “And you need to take some time off?”

“Yes. Right now, I don’t know how much,” Steve said.

“Is everything alright?” Chin asked. He’d known Steve the longest, having worked with his father before retiring from Honolulu Police Department when he hit twenty years and no longer found satisfaction with how things were going.

“Deb’s getting married,” Steve replied. Chin and Lou started to give their congratulations when Steve continued, “And she has brain cancer.”

“What?!” Chin and Lou exclaimed at the same time. “Did she just tell you?” Lou asked.

Steve shook his head. “Remember that registered letter I got earlier?” Both men nodded their heads. “Letter was from her doctor informing me that I’ve been added to her medical directive.”

“Damn, Steve,” Chin replied as he moved closer to Steve and gripped his shoulder in comfort.

“What’s the prognosis?” Lou asked

“I don’t even know. Deb didn’t even tell me. She was all happy about the wedding, and Mary didn’t tell me much with the exception of her going to nursing school.”

“We have things under control here,” Chin said. “Take as much time as you need.”

“Yeah, family first,” Lou added. “You know that. Whatever help you need, we’ve got your back.”

“Thanks guys,” Steve said. He was forever grateful for Chin and Lou and their understanding nature. “I hate that I’m leaving so much for you to do now.”

“Don’t worry about it. You go home and get things together so you can get to your family and see what’s going on,” Chin said. “I’ll have Toast split your cases between Lou and I…maybe bump Kono up while you’re gone.”

“She’s probably ready for it now,” Steve said in agreement. “I’m going to head by to my office and make travel arrangements. I’ll need to contact Junior to house sit while I’m gone.”

“He’ll be thrilled about that,” Lou laughed. “Just ease up on the rules you give him for being at your house. I swear he was camped out on the beach the last time.”

Steve laughed. “That little bit of hazing was nothing.” He sobered a bit and looked Chin and Lou in the eyes. “Thanks, guys. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to make the decision to close up shop while I was gone.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Chin said.

“And to make sure you don’t hurt any of the big leaguers who come to us for our services.” Lou added with a laugh.

“Get out of here,” Steve said as he walked back to his office. “I’ve gotten better at that.”

Chin and Lou laughed at him. They knew it was true, he had gotten better, but sometimes, a whale of a client will come in making all sorts of demands that makes Steve wish he could just shoot them on the spot.

+=+

Days later, Steve was set to fly to Los Angeles to see his sister and Aunt. Despite talking to them every couple of months on the phone, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually seen them in person.

“Just made it,” Steve said into his phone as he walked to baggage claim.

“We saw you hit some turbulence about two hours into the flight,” Chin commented. “I had to keep Toast from booking a back up flight if yours had to turn around.”

Steve laughed some. “I got all of his texts. Someone needs to swipe his candy and pot stash for a week.”

“And have things go to hell while you’re gone?” Chin laughed. “Not on your life!”

“I’ve got to go. They’re already getting my luggage together and I need to call Mary to let her know when I’ll be arriving at the house.”

When Steve made his travel arrangements, he booked himself a car because of how much luggage he was bringing with him. He knew it all wouldn’t fit in Mary’s car, especially if she had Joan in her car seat.

“Lou is already on it,” Chin replied. “We’ll talk later, once you’re settled and have a chance to talk with Mary.”

“Thanks Chin,” Steve said sincerely. “Oh, please thank Kono for me for how well she handled the Carlyle couple. Roger said Misty seemed to have a different outlook on life once she got back home.”

“I know Kono will appreciate that, but she told me to tell you that she never wants to deal with rich bratty kids again.” Chin laughed.

Steve ended the call with Chin and followed the two attendants who had his luggage. They walked out of a side entrance to the airport and loaded his four suitcases in the back of a waiting SUV. “Thanks guys.” He said as he tipped them.

+=+

Steve had been in Los Angeles for a week before he was able to sit his Aunt down and talk about her health. He spelled it out, in no uncertain terms, that he wouldn’t think about her wedding to Leonard before she told him everything about her illness.

“I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about this,” Deb had said as she straightened her hair. She was already through the point in her chemotherapy that her hair was gone and she had taken to wearing custom made wigs that Leonard bought for her.

“Making…making a big deal!?” Steve repeated in shocked anger. “I just found out you’ve been dealing with this virtually life ending disease for a year and Mary found out six months ago…and Christ! No one bothered to call and tell me?! Did you ever plan on telling me?”

“Of course I did, Steven,” Deb said in an icy tone, and then her demeanor changed. She slumped in her chair in defeat. “I was looking for the right time to tell you. I couldn’t tell you the same way I did with Mary, and I still haven’t been cleared to travel.”

“Why didn’t you call and ask me to come to you? You know I would have dropped everything to come to you.”

Deb sighed and reached her hand to his. Steve turned his hand over and gripped his aunt’s hand, not wanting to let go.

“That’s exactly why I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want to you to have to uproot your life to come and take care of me.”

“Why not?” Steve asked. “You did that for me and Mary when our mom died and Dad couldn’t take care of us anymore.”

“That was different, sweetheart. You didn’t have anyone. There was no other family around to do it.”

Steve gave Deb a sad smile and raised his free hand to lightly touch her cheek. “That’s exactly why you should have told me. There’s only me, Mary and Joan. We are all we have and if that means I take a break from work to help my only aunt through cancer, then I will do that. Without a second thought.”

Deb smiled and sniffed. “Okay. Messaged received loud and clear.”

“Great. Now when is your next doctor appointment? I want to meet them and find out more about your treatment.”

“It’s next week. Mary has all of the information on some complicated calendar she up.”

+=+

When Steve learned about the medical calendar that Deb said Mary created, he went to his sister to ask her about it. Over the course of an hour, Mary explained to Steve what the calendar was and how it was accessed and what type of information was in it.

Steve could see how his aunt would think it was complicated, because in a manner of speaking it was complicated, but it held a wealth of information about all of Deb’s care since she was diagnosed with brain cancer. But most importantly, Steve was very proud of his sister for stepping up in a big way to ensure that their aunt had the best care possible.

“There are color coded doctor appointments, chemo treatments and if necessary, follow up appointments,” Mary explained as she pointed everything out on the calendar.

“You did all of this?” Steve asked in awe.

Mary nodded a bit. “One of her doctors mentioned this medical program they use for scheduling patients and the nursing staff but there was no way I’d be able to afford that so I looked up the company they used to see what other programs they had and found this one. It’s called Medi-Schedule.”

Steve put the tablet down and pulled his sister into a hug. “I’m so proud of you doing this, Mare. When you said you were helping Deb, I didn’t think you’d gone this far with it.” He pulled back and looked at Mary, “I can see why she’s calm about everything that’s going on. You’ve helped to make her feel like it’s going to be okay because she has someone in her corner and that she’s no longer going through this alone.”

“You really think so?” Mary asked a bit doubtfully. “You think everything I’m going is right?”

“I think that given everything that you’ve done in the last six months of knowing is incredible,” Steve said honestly and sincerely. “And I want you to know that I’m backing you and Deb up on this. Whatever you need, I’m here for you…even if that means flying out here for the weekend so that you and your boyfriend can have some time away from Deb and Joanie.”

This time Mary pulled Steve into a hug. “Oh my god, Steve! Thank you so much for saying that! It means so much and god, I didn’t know how much longer I could do this by myself.”

“Well, I’m here now,” Steve replied as he rubbed Mary’s back. “I’m here to help and I will keep reminding you and Deb as often as it takes.”

+=+

After they talked about Deb’s medical treatments, Steve was finally willing to listen to the wedding plans Mary had been working on. She also took the time to tell Steve about Leonard. Steve had yet to meet him, but Mary explained that he was getting his final round of chemotherapy and had been in the hospital for going on a week.

“They met at a cancer support group in Pasadena. I think it was around the time Deb first found out.”

"So they've been in a relationship for a year and a half?" Steve asks. He wants to be happy for his aunt but it feels like he's been thrown in the deep end of the pool and had to swim to the other side because sinking wasn’t an option - he wouldn’t leave his sister to deal with all of their Aunt's medical decisions alone.

"Alright," Steve says after a moment of thought. "Tell me more about him?"

Mary smiled some. "Leonard is a great guy. The first time I met him I'd just gotten back from five days of flying was going on very little sleep and I was coming down with some sickness. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for my two days off. So I might have snapped about the pretentious jerk who parked in the driveway...or something like that."

Steve laughed. He knew his sister's tongue when she was overly tired. He was the same way.

"Out of the kitchen walks this man in a three piece suit like he was Al fuckin' Capone or something," Mary shook her head with a laugh. "I kid you not, he replies, 'I would be that pretentious jerk and you must be the lovely Mary Ann…though your language leaves something to be desired.'"

Steve threw his head back in a full body laugh. "Oh, Mary, you didn't..."

"Oh, but I did," Mary replied. "I called him a mafia reject that even Gotti wouldn't want anything to do with."

"And you're still alive...," Steve snorted.

"Yeah, well, Deb came down from her room and apologized for how I was acting and explained that I'd just gotten off of many flights and was overly tired."

"Sounds like her. How'd you work it out?" Steve asked.

"I went to my room and slept for a couple of hours before going to pick up Joan from her dad's...when we got back Leonard was there, and I was more in my right mind to properly apologize." Mary said.

"He wasn't mad or anything?" Steve asked.

Mary shook her head. "Nope. He said I didn't have anything to apologize for. That my description of him was seventy-five percent true and properly introduced himself to me. He ordered dinner for us and we sat around the kitchen table talking. It was really nice. Almost like a family dinner."

"So...what...he's in with the Mob?" Steve asked. He didn't really think his Aunt would get taken in by anyone in the Mob, but he knew how convincing they could be when they set their eyes on wanting something.

"Steve, I honestly don't know," Mary said. "He might have been once upon a time, but since I've known him, he's been going to cancer treatments and reconnecting with his adult kids."

"Has he talked much about his life?"

"Here and there, but I got the impression that he was all about now and what little of the future he has left."

"Is that why Deb is rushing to get married?"

"Maybe...you know she's never been married and I think she wants to do that now, since they're both on borrowed time," Mary said. "He proposed six months ago when Deb was first in remission. They planned on getting married when he finished his treatments, but then her cancer came back and now they want to do it as soon as possible."

Steve sighed. He had no idea what his Aunt and Leonard were going through, but he could understand the feeling of wanting to have something to grasp on to when time was running out. He saw a lot of the guys from his days as a SEAL doing the same thing when their time was up or they'd had one too many close calls.

That was in fact how Steve got out. Well, not really, but it was definitely one too many close calls and after Freddie was killed and his dad was murdered, he was beginning to no longer see the point of being in anymore. So he got out.

"Right. Now, tell me about this wedding," Steve said coming back to the task in front of him. "When is it going to be, where is it going to be and how the hell much is it going to cost?"

+=+

Leonard was discharged from the hospital after his final treatment and was brought to the house by his youngest son. There were introductions, hugs and handshakes all around. If Steve was anyone else, he would probably have felt left out, but he refused to be a wallflower. He wanted to know about these people his Aunt would be calling family, legally.

“You must be the nephew,” a voice said from behind.

Steve turned around and came face to face with a man much shorter than him. “I am the nephew,” Steve says. “Steve McGarrett.”

Leonard nodded his head. “Leonard Cassano,” he responds. “I’ve heard a lot about you from my beautiful fiancée and your lovely sister, you’re a big deal doing great things for others.”

Steve didn’t exactly know how to respond to that kind of praise from someone he didn’t know. “I try my best.”

“And that’s all anyone can ask of you,” Leonard said. “I’m sure there’s a lot you’d like to know about me because Mary and Deb probably haven’t told you much.”

“I am curious,” Steve admitted. “I didn’t know about you until about three weeks ago.”

Leonard nodded his head. “That’s got to be a shock.”

“Just a bit,” Steve said. He raised his left hand, putting his thumb and index fingers close together to emphasize the point.

“I’m sorry this was all sprung on you,” Leonard walked a chair next to where Steve was standing and sat down. “I honestly thought that you’d been told about my relationship with Deb months ago.”

Steve shrugged his shoulder some and sat in the chair across from him. “I think any time I would have been told it would have been a shock.”

“You’re probably right,” Leonard agreed. “Those questions you have for me?”

“I have loads of questions for you, but it’s mainly because I haven’t gotten to know you over the last year and a half like my sister have. You’re already family to her and Joan and Deb and I feel like I’m the one marrying into the family.”

“Okay, that’s understandable and I can’t even begin to wonder why they wouldn’t have said anything before now,” Leonard said, “but I want you to know that I love your Aunt with my whole heart, as newly cancer free as it is.”

Steve laughed some. “Of that I don’t doubt. It’s just…I worry. I’m sure you know it’s a McGarrett thing.”

“Oh yes, I do know that. I’ve been on the receiving end of that from Deb and Mary, and let me tell you, having beautiful women dote on you is a great feeling when you’re sick.”

“You call it doting, I call it mother-henning to death,” Steve whispered.

Leonard laughed. “You and I are going to get along just great, Steve. Of that I’m sure.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Steve said. “Now tell me, what did you have in mind for your engagement party?”

+=+

Steve, Mary and Leonard’s children, Marty, Jonathan, Rebecca and Nicole, worked on an engagement party for their Aunt and Father. Over the course of the two weeks it took to plan it, Steve got to know Leonard’s children pretty well. Not as well as Mary did, but he no longer felt like the odd man out of things.

The engagement party was held at a jazz club that Deb and Leonard liked to go to. In lieu of gifts, they asked for donations to be given to the local cancer charity that had been helping them with their treatments.

Steve was able to meet more of Deb and Leonard’s friends and reconnect with some of Deb’s friends he hadn’t seen since he was a teenager and lived with his aunt for a few months before going to military school.

“Have you given any thought to the wedding?” Steve was asked. He thought he was talking to one of Leonard’s ‘cousins’ but wasn’t too sure on the familial relation and didn’t want to pry.

“We haven’t. At least not that I know of,” Steve replied.

“What about a destination wedding?” Minnie asked. She was definitely a relative of Leonard’s. They looked like they could be twins.

“It would depend on if their doctors give the okay for them to fly,” Steve mused, “and it would also have to be something that Deb and Leonard would be willing to do.”

“Well, it’s just something you to mention to them,” Minnie said casually.

Steve raised an eyebrow. “You already have a destination in mind, don’t you?”

Minnie shrugged some. “I hear Hawaii is good year round…”

Steve laughed. “Of course it is, but I’m probably biased since I live and work there.”

“All the more reason to have it there,” Minnie said. “So many of us have never been and I know that my brother hasn’t…”

“I’ll think about talking to them about it,” Steve said.

“And I’ll ask how many of the family would be willing to travel there for it.”

+=+

At the mention of having a destination wedding, the rest of Deb and Leonard’s friends and family seemed to really love the idea for the couple. Even if they weren’t able to attend, they felt Deb and Leonard deserved something nice and tropical.

“It looks like your wedding has been hijacked…,” Mary laughed.

“As long as Leo and I are there with our nearest and dearest, I don’t care where we have it,” Deb replied with a smile. “I’m just happy there are no fighting over guest lists and seating arrangements.”

“That’s a big plus,” Mary said in agreement. She noticed that Steve and Nicole had everything under control in that department.

“I just worry…,” Deb began then paused to pick her words.

“What’s that?” Mary asked when she didn’t finish her thought.

“I just worry that we aren’t going to get the okay to travel and all this planning would have been for naught and the family will be disappointed.” Deb said. “I don’t want anyone to be upset that they didn’t get their trip to Hawaii.”

“If it doesn’t happen this time around, there’s always the next time you’re cleared,” Mary said as she moved to sit next to her aunt and wrap a comforting arm around her slender shoulder. “You can have a small ceremony out in Santa Barbara and then when you’re well enough to travel, we can all go to Hawaii.”

Deb shrugged her shoulders. She honestly didn’t care where she and Leonard got married, but this was the happiest she’s seen a lot of the family in a long time and she didn’t want to deprive them of that…especially when she was actually doing well.

Leonard had been given a clean bill of health, or as clean as one can have while dealing with cancer, shortly after their engagement party and Deb herself was feeling loads better as well. She knew Steve would say it was thanks in part to the change in her diet – she would never understand how Steve talked her doctor into the idea that she really needed a better diet, and how he got Leonard to give up a lot of the bad eating habits that his own family couldn’t get him to give up.

“We just need to think positively. Steve and Nicole think that in a couple of months everyone will be fit to fly to Hawaii for the wedding, so you just need to get that in mind,” Mary said. “Steve and Nicole,” she emphasized.

Deb laughed. She had to agree with that. If both Steve and Nicole felt it would happen, they would find a way to make it happen.

“All right,” Deb said with a nod.

* * *

**Part 2: Aunt Deb illness gets worse after Leonard's death**  
**:: TWO YEAR TIME JUMP ::**

They were married for two years before Leonard’s cancer came back a third time. In that time, Deb and Leonard had been lucky enough to travel the world. There was no way on their limited income they would have been able to accomplish as much as they had, but with Steve’s connections and Mary’s saved up miles from when she was working as a flight attendant, their dreams came true.

Thanks to a job that Steve had, they spent a week in Paris and were able to see the sunrise from the Eiffel Tower; it was a belated honeymoon for them as well. For Thanksgiving, they took a full family trip, Steve, Mary and Joan included with Leonard’s children and grandchildren, to see the Northern Lights in Alaska.

Then Deb and Leonard went on a cruise down the Nile River followed by a day trip to see the pyramids for their one year anniversary. That had been a gift from Leonard’s children and a great surprise for them.

After Egypt, the couple spent Christmas in Hawaii with Mary, Joan and Steve. Deb especially loved the quality time she got to spend with her niece and nephew. There were a lot of stories she told them of their father when he was younger. Also during her time with them, she made them promise that she would follow through with her wishes once she died.

On their 80th birthday, Deb and Leonard got matching tattoos. Leonard’s kids thought it was hilarious and they documented the whole event. When Mary and Joan returned from a weekend trip to San Diego, she was treated to viewing the video that was made as well as being able to see the actual tattoos on her aunt and uncle.

The tattoos were the last thing they were able to do together before Leonard got sick again. The cancer had returned a fourth time and it was more aggressive than the previous times before. After talking over his requests with Deb and his children, he decided that he didn’t want to try for chemotherapy again. He wanted to be kept comfortable and continue to live life as well as he could.

With the help of Leonard’s adult children, hospice care was arranged and a downstairs bedroom at Deb and Leonard’s home was set up for all of his needs. He didn’t need much as the cancer hadn’t started to eat away at his organs, but it was great to be prepared.

Every other day Leonard was at the hospital getting chemotherapy. His children set up a rotation, with Mary filling in should something come up, but they didn’t want to distract her from her nursing studies. Twice a month, Deb went in for her checks to make sure her cancer hadn’t returned and that she was still healthy.

+=+

“Has Deb thought about what she’s going to do once my dad dies?” Marty asked. As the oldest, he was sort of the spokesperson for his siblings whenever they talked with Mary about the care of their parents.

Mary shook her head. “She doesn’t want to talk about it. She said she wants to focus on him and keeping him comfortable and following her own doctor’s orders.”

“Well, have you thought about what’s going to happen?” Nicole asked. She is the same age as Mary, but the youngest of Leonard’s children. She has three children of her own and is on her second marriage.

“Sort of. We already had the whole financial situation talk – Joan and I get all of her stuff and you guys get all of Leonard’s stuff, once she’s dead as well. Anything that they’ve gotten while married goes to the grandkids, and in the case of Marty, great-grand kids.”

Marty had four children, and his oldest son was married and had twin daughters, so Leonard was great grandfather. The middle children, Jonathan and Rebecca both had three children. In total, Leonard had thirteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

“We never questioned that,” Nicole said. “We’re sort of concerned about how Deb’s going to handle everything.”

“The way she’s been handling it – denial until she can’t deny any longer and then face it head on,” Mary said. She looked at the siblings, “What about Leo? He’s handling it, right?”

“Better than we expected,” Jonathan said. “He took his oncologist’s advice and talked with a therapist. They’re going to meet again after his next chemo session.”

+=+

Leonard lived with his fourth cancer diagnosis for six months before he died. Deb and Leonard were just weeks shy of their third wedding anniversary by this point and the family could tell Leonard would be leaving them soon.

Deb had just returned from a visit with her doctor, where she received good news, and wanted to share with her husband. When she walked into his room, she found him sleeping and didn’t want to bother him so she went to tell Mary, who she could hear in the kitchen making lunch for herself and Joan.

“I come with good news from the doctor.” Deb said as she sat next to Joan.

“Yay!” Joan cheered as she threw her hands in the air.

“Very yay,” Deb said in agreement. “My doctor has said the cancer mass shrunk another three percent, so the chemo pills seem to be working.”

Mary sighed in relief. “I’m so glad to hear that!” she said walking to give her aunt a hug. “Yu should take Leonard his medicine and tell him the good news too.”

Mary gathered her uncle’s medication and poured the tablets into the medicine cup they used and handed it to her aunt with a half a bottle of Ensure. “Chocolate flavor left over from his mid-day snack.”

Deb nodded her head and took the items back to Leonard’s bedroom. She set the items on the bedside table and sat on the bed next to her husband. She gently shook his shoulder to wake him up but he didn’t stir. She moved her hand down his shoulder and arm to his hand. It was cold to the touch and she gasped.

“Oh God! Mary come quick!” Deb called out. “There’s something wrong with Leo!”

Mary dropped what she was doing in the kitchen and ran when her aunt called out for her. Before she got to the bed to fully see Leonard, she could tell from his body that he was no longer breathing.

Mary continued to the other side of the bed and checked his wrist and side of his neck for a pulse. She couldn’t find one so she picked up the phone sitting on the other bedside table and dialed 9-1-1. As she spoke to the paramedics, she heard the front door open and knew it was either the night shift nurse or one of Leonard’s children.

“We’re back here!” she called out.

Around the corner came the nurse. “I’m earl…” she stopped speaking when she took in the scene in front of her and heard Mary on the phone speaking.

She put her bag on the floor by the door and went to Deb. “Why don’t you come sit here so I can check on Leonard.” She helped Deb to move from the bed to a chair by the door, and then went back to the bed.

“Deb, can you tell me what happened?” the nurse asked. She knew that Mary would have to relay the info to whoever she was speaking with on the phone.

“I came to give him his meds and he was sleeping, so I sat on the bed to wake him up. Shook his shoulder, and he didn’t move. When I touched his hand it was cold and he still hadn’t moved.”

“He was cold to the touch. I couldn’t find a pulse on his neck or wrist,” Mary said to the operator and the nurse. “It had only been thirty minutes at the most from the time I was last with him until my aunt came in the room with his meds.”

There was more talking that the nurse couldn’t hear before Mary spoke again. “Our hospice nurse is here with us now. Okay…yes…thank you.” Mary ended the call and slumped in the chair next to the bed.

“You’re doing great, Mary,” the nurse said. “Now, what’s the next step?” The nurse knew that Mary was going to nursing school and had been helping her with her studies while caring for Leonard.

“Emergency operator said they would send an ambulance,” Mary replied as she looked at the nurse. “He has no pulse and I don’t know how long it’s been.”

“Okay, I’m here for that. What’s next that you have to do?” the nurse gently asked.

Mary took a deep breath and looked around the room. He eyes landed on her aunt who was sitting in a chair across the bed from her.

“Oh, Deb!” she got up and rushed to her aunt. “I’m so sorry.”

Deb hugged Mary and cried softly. Mary helped her aunt to stand up and walked her out of the room, leaving the nurse to do her job.

Once Mary got Deb set up in the den, she went back to the kitchen to get Joan and take her to the den with Deb. “Jelly bean, I need you to stay with Nana Debs. I need to help the nurse with Uncle Leo, okay?”

“Okay Mommy,” Joan said as she ran to sit next to Deb.

Mary watched them for a moment before going back to the bedroom with the nurse.

“Mary, you need to call the rest of the family,” the nurse said. She was sitting at the desk in the corner of the room filling out papers. Mary asked her about them once so she knew what they were, but at the moment, she was drawing a blank.

“I have to get the address book out of the desk.” Mary replied as she walked to the desk. The nurse rolled out of the way for Mary to open the necessary drawer and retrieve the book.

Casting a final look at Leonard, the man looked like he was peacefully sleeping. She was glad that he went in the sleep and without anyone around. She knew that was a mean thing to say, but she knew her aunt wouldn’t have been able to deal with being there as he took his last breaths.

Mary walked out of the room and went to the kitchen. It was far enough away from the den so Joan wouldn’t hear, but close enough that she could hear if anyone came to the front door or if Deb needed her for anything.

She pulled out a chair and sat down. She knew the numbers of the people she needed to call by heart, but having the address book helped her to get her thoughts in order. First person to call was Marty. He would then call his siblings and allow Mary to call her brother and other family friends.

Mary’s hand shook a bit as she dialed the number and had to start over twice due to dialing the wrong number. Once she got it right, the phone rang before it was connected when Marty answered.

“Miss Mary, I was just about to call you,” Marty said by greeting. “I’m running late, but I’m on my way.”

“Oh, Marty…,” Mary said softly.

“Mary, is everything okay?” Marty asked.

“I’m so sorry, Marty,” Mary began. “It’s your dad. He just died.”

+=+

Marty and his siblings decide that while Deb is well enough, they should honor their father’s wishes to have his ashes scattered in Hawaii on what would have been their third wedding anniversary.

“We have everything set out here,” Steve said. He was in his office working, but took time to video chat with his sister, Marty and Leonard’s other children.

“We really appreciate you doing this for us,” Marty said. “I know we aren’t exactly faml…”

“If you finish that sentence, I will drive to the valley and kick your ass, Marty,” Mary said with a glare. “Deb and Leonard were married. They were family. That makes all of us family and that doesn’t change because one of them has died!”

Marty held up his hands in surrender. “Okay. I’m sorry for beginning to say that we aren’t family.” Everyone laughed.

“Will all of you guys be coming out?” Steve asked. “I know that you first thought it’d only be the siblings, but what about your kids? School is still in session, right?”

“It is, but if we do it over the weekend, they’ll only miss Thursday, Friday and possibly Monday.”

“Well, whatever you decide, there is a property rental at your disposal for a week starting on Thursday.”

+=+

“It seems we’ve had a setback,” the doctor told Deb and Mary. “Due to your weakened immune system and the stress of everything the last month or so, you’ve gotten an infection that had previously hidden the reemergence of the cancer.”

“What…what does that mean?” Deb asked as she looked from her doctor to Mary and back to the doctor.

“It means that we believe the cancer has grown again,” the doctor said, “I will continue to monitor how effective this chemo pill is to determine whether it is best for you to keep taking it or if we need to try something else.”

Deb took a breath, then another and looked at the doctor. “I want a second opinion.”

“What?” Mary and the doctor questioned at the same time.

“Deb?” … “Mrs. Cassano?”

“I want a second opinion. I don’t want to take anymore pills or go back to that other stuff that you shoot in my veins.”

“Okay…,” Mary said. She didn’t understand her aunt’s change of mind and was worried about it. “What do you want to do then?”

“Homio…homeopathic stuff,” Deb stumbled over the word. “I want to talk with one of the people at my cancer group who has been doing it. She says she’s getting better with it.”

“Mrs. Cassano, I strongly recommend you stick with this course of action,” the doctor said giving her full attention to Deb.

Deb shook her head. “No. I want a second opinion.” She stood up and gathered her purse and jacket. “There could be something else that will work and won’t have me feeling sick all the time from being poisoned.”

Mary watched as her aunt walked out of the doctor’s office. “I’ll…I should go after her,” Mary said quickly standing up with her things. “I’ll call you once I’m able to talk with her about everything.”

* * *

**Part 3: Steve convinces Mary & Deb to move back to Hawaii**

It wasn’t long after Leonard’s death that the idea came to Steve. If he was being honest with himself, the idea had always been there. Before he knew about Leonard and the cancer, the idea had been there.

Convince Deb, Mary and Joan to move to Hawaii so they would be closer to one another. Steve desperately wanted his family near him and if he didn’t have anything keeping him to the Islands, he would have moved to Los Angeles years ago.

As he waited in the airport for his flight to Los Angeles to be called for boarding, the idea continued to grow. He needed to find a way to ask or convince the women in his life to move closer to him, but he didn’t know how or if it would work.

Mary had a life in Los Angeles. She had stability and was growing and becoming her own person outside of the shadow of the death of their parents and big brother who was a former SEAL. Steve didn’t think it was fair to ask them to uproot their lives to make things easier on him.

_‘You never know until you ask…,’_ the voice in his head said. It sounded a lot like Lou and he was never going to tell the older man that. He would get too much of a kick out of it.

But still. The voice was right. He wouldn’t know until he asked and even if they said no right now, that didn’t mean it would always be no. He would have time to work on them…convince them to reconsider.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Steve saw that it was far too early to call his sister, so he sent her a text reminding her of when his plane landed.

As soon as Steve sent the text, his phone began to vibrate in his hand. He glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Mary.

Steve answered the phone, “What are you doing up so early?” he asked by way of greeting.

“Deb’s had a rough night and I haven’t gone to sleep so I thought I’d take the time to get in some studying before catching a couple of hours and then going to get you,” Mary said.

Steve could hear the exhaustion in his sister’s voice and his resolve hardened. She couldn’t keep doing this by herself as well as care for Joan.

“You sound exhausted,” he said needlessly. Mary laughed at that. “There’s still time for me to arrange a shuttle to drop me off at the house so you can get more than a couple hours of sleep.”

“No, Steve. I said I would pick you up, and I will,” Mary said though a yawn.

“No, Mare, you’re reaching your limit. I’ll figure my way there and I want you to sleep. Put the books away now and go to sleep!” Steve said. He would hate it if something happened to her because she was driving while exhausted. He wouldn’t do that to Joan.

Mary sighed. “Alright. Putting the books away now and going to bed. I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Great, I’ll see you in about seven hours,” Steve said. “I love you, Mare.”

“Love you too, big brother.” Mary said.

With the call finished, Steve put his phone in his pocket, gathered his things and went to search for a charging station so that he could charge his phone and call Toast to arrange transportation for him when he got to Los Angeles.

+=+

“Stevie…!” Deb said as she moved to sit up straighter in bed, “what are you doing here?!”

“I came for a visit, Deb,” Steve said as he dropped his bag by the side of her bed and leaned down to kiss her forehead and give her a hug.

“You didn’t have to,” she began, “I know you’re really busy with work and it’s not fair to the others than you’re always dropping things to come to see me.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Steve said sitting in the chair next to the bed. “Everyone knows that family is important and I would do the same for them if they needed to take some time away.”

Deb rolled her eyes at that. “Yes, I know, but you didn’t have to. All you’d be doing is bugging Mary while she’s studying. You’d probably be bored out of your mind in a day.”

Mary laughed as she joined her brother in their aunt’s room. “Shows how much you know, Steve’s already been roped into babysitting duties so he’ll be too busy to bug me or get bored.”

“She is right,” Steve said with a nod of his head. “I worked my schedule so that I will be here until Mary finishes out her current term so she can concentrate on her studies.”

Steve heard his sister gasp. “Steve?” she questioned.

“I told you I wasn’t going to have you doing this alone,” Steve said as he gave Mary a smile. “They have everything okay at the company. Lou and Chin are old hats at this and we’ve hired a few more people, so they’ll be okay.”

“But…it’s six months, Steve,” Mary said shaking her head. “I can’t ask you to stay away from work that long.”

“You’re not asking. I’m telling you that I’m out here for the next six month. You finish up this term with one less stress and maybe getting more sleep…unless you don’t want me to be here…”

“NO!” Mary and Deb both shouted. “No, I…we want you to stay,” Mary said. “I can definitely use the help and it’d be great having you around more.”

Steve grinned. “Great! I’m going to take my bags up to my room and call my team to give them the news. Then Mary, I want you to walk me through everyone’s schedule.”

+=+

Steve had been in Los Angeles for two months and while he could see improvements with his aunt’s health, overall, it was still declining. Her doctor had gone through several therapy options and was reaching out to other oncology doctors for other opinions.

This evening, however, it was one of Deb’s better days; a fifth day and she was able to join them at the dinner table for a meal.

“I had another reason for taking a leave of absence from my job…” Steve said one evening while he was preparing dinner.

Mary was sitting at a desk working on the grocery list for the following week, Joan was sitting at the kitchen table coloring and Deb was carefully helping Steve with the meal.

“Broccoli or mixed vegetables?” Mary asked. She glanced at her brother, “If you say to put the fear of a former Navy SEAL into my boyfriend, you’re too late for that.”

Deb and Steve both laughed. “No,” Steve replied. “And I know, but he’s a good guy so I’m going easy on him. I actually like the man, Mary.”

Mary ducked her head and grinned some. She knew that given the chance, Pete and Steve would get along and so far they have. It’s made weekly dinners much more bearable.

“I came to ask you both a question,” Steve said. He put down the knife he was cutting with and turned to face his aunt and sister.

“I’m intrigued,” Mary said turning to look at Steve, “And this sounds serious…”

“I’d like for both of you to think about moving to Hawaii with me,” Steve said. Nothing like ripping the band aid off.

The room was quiet with the exception of the pot of boiling water on the stove behind him.

“I’m not saying right now,” Steve got out in a rush, “but when Mary is finished with the term and the doctor says it is okay…which she will.”

+=+

“She’s improving,” the doctor said. “She’s putting on weight and that’s helping her with everything else.” The doctor continued to look though Deb’s file. “Whatever you’re doing, continue doing it and I’ll keep doing my thing.”

“Do you think she will be well enough to travel?” Mary asked.

Mary spent the last month thinking over Steve’s request of moving back to Hawaii and it did have some merits. She didn’t want her brother to permanently put his life on hold to help care for their dying aunt, and she’d been looking up the oncology doctors on the Islands and there was one who especially caught her eye, but she didn’t want to say anything about it just yet.

“Travel” the doctor asked. “I don’t know about that…”

“It won’t be now,” Mary said, “Obviously. But maybe, but like…the end of the year? Or the beginning of next year?”

“Right now, the answer is no, but if her health continues to improve, she could travel short distances and it might even do her some good.” The doctor looked at Steve, Mary and Deb, “Do you have any other questions for me?”

Mary and Steve pulled out their phones to check that they covered everything they wanted to speak with the doctor about.

“Deb’s body temperature seems to fluctuate a lot during the day…and rapidly sometimes,” Steve said once he finished looking at his notes.

“Fluctuating body temperatures is normal in older adults, combined with her lowered immune system due to the cancer treatment, that is likely going to be her new normal, so to speak,” the doctor said. “Expand on what you mean by rapidly changes?”

“Well, if I’m in the family room, I’ll have a throw blanket over me and the heater on low because I’m freezing cold,” Deb said. “Not even thirty minutes later I’m burning up and sweating and can’t get cool.”

The doctor made note of that in Deb’s records. “It’s likely a combination of advanced age, weakened immune system and the cancer treatment. Unfortunately that means it’s something you’re just going to have to continue to deal with.”

“That’s what we thought,” Mary said with a sigh.

“Too bad there isn’t a such thing as a heating and cooling blanket that I can use at the same time,” Deb said with a laugh.

+=+

“So we’re doing this?” Steve asked Mary and Deb. Both women nodded their heads.

Deb’s health improved so much that her doctor cleared her to travel. Their first order of business was to meet with the top oncologist in Hawaii. Mary contacted her shortly after Deb’s weekly doctor appointments continued to show improvement and it looked like her aunt would be able to travel and hopefully move permanently to Hawaii.

“We’ll start with two weeks and see how that goes. If you decide you want to come back and have no more thought of living in Hawaii, we’ll work from there.” Steve reassured them.

It was more for Deb than anything. He already knew that Mary was looking forward to finishing up her nursing training under Chin’s wife, Malia, who was also likely going to be Deb’s new doctor if they made the move permanent. Deb didn’t know that if she decided to return to Los Angeles, that it would be without Mary and Joan, but Steve had worked it out with Chin and Lou that they could open a second office on the mainland and expand their company if Steve needed to move.

“Yes, dad,” Mary said with a laugh. “We’ve gone over this time and time again. This is just a vacation and a visit with a new doctor.”

+=+

The permanent move to Hawaii had done wonders for Deb’s health. She still had her cancer, but paired with a homeopathic treatment, the cancer was being kept at bay and Malia was able to work with Steve and Mary in getting Deb otherwise well. Deb spent a lot of time outside with a cancer support group as well as local herbalists who worked with Malia from time to time.

Steve spent time in Los Angeles working with Marty, Jonathan, Rebecca and Nicole to pack up Deb’s house and sort through what was going to be kept amongst the family and what was going to be donated. The house, since it was in Deb’s name, was going to be sold and the money split between Mary and Steve.

Mary was moving along wonderfully in her nursing training and learning so much from Malia as well as the other doctors she worked with. She became more confident in her education choices and decided that she wanted to continue with school. She talked it over with Deb and Steve before talking with Malia. Oncology was where she really wanted to be. She thought that by working with so many patients who reminded her of Deb hurt, but it didn’t. She was able to help patients as well as their families because she was going through a similar situation. She was learning and passing what she learned to those families and was able to implement it within her own family.

* * *

**Part 4: Danny hired as caregiver**

It was Malia who was able to convince Steve that it was in all of their best interests to hire a caregiver for Deb. While their aunt’s health wasn’t improving, it also wasn’t getting worse either, but she was taking up a lot of his and Mary’s time.

Two years on and Mary was deep into her nursing program and caring for Joan, who was now six years old and in kindergarten. Steve was back to working for Five-0 Security, but his time was heavily split between that and being the primary caregiver for Deb.

They really did need the help.

“You’re going to need more help,” Malia said as she and Steve stepped out of the exam room that Deb was in. Normally Malia hated stepping away from her patients to talk about them with their family members, but this was something she needed Steve to hear without her patient trying to guilt him one way or another.

“We’re doing fine now,” Steve insisted. “We’ve got a schedule that is working and adding someone else into the mix is going to needlessly complicate things.”

Malia shook her head some. “Not if you get someone whose sole responsibility was caring for Deb,” she said gently. “I’m not talking permanently or even full time. I’m suggesting someone who can be there six or eight hours a day or three days a week. They would work with Deb and watch out for any changes in her that you might not notice right away.”

Steve bit his lip and looked back toward the room. “I don’t know,” he said, “this is something that I need to talk over with Deb and Mary and see how they feel about it before I can even make a decision.”

“Good. I want you to talk and think about it,” Malia said with a smile. “This isn’t something to rush into. Even if you do decide to go that route, you’ll have to find the right person for all of you and that also takes time.”

“Okay,” Steve said letting out a breath. “Okay, thank you Malia. I know you’re looking out for Deb’s best interests with all of this.”

“Not just Deb, but you, Mary and Joan,” Malia replied as she placed a hand on Steve’s arm. “Cancer doesn’t just affect the person who has it; it affects their family and friends as well.”

+=+

Shortly after Steve returned from Los Angeles and finalizing the sale of the house the Deb had owned since she moved away from the Islands when she was a young adult, fresh out of college, Steve, Mary and Deb had an honest discussion and agreed that having someone specifically for Deb’s care would be the best of everyone.

Once the decision was made, it was an even longer process trying to determine the type of caregiver they would need. The first suggestion that was brought up was a live-in caregiver, but Deb wasn’t in that poor a condition to warrant that level of care. They spoke with Malia about what she thought they should have as recommending care for cancer patients was something she was well versed in.

“His name is Danny Williams,” Malia said as she spoke with Deb, Mary and Steve. She was glad they took her suggestion to heart and discussed getting a long term caregiver. “He’s in your geographical area, living a couple of miles from you, he’s a registered nurse specializing in long term cancer patient care.”

Malia turned the folder around so the trio could look over its contents. Among the pages were recommendations from the families of former patients as well as an informal letter of introduction that Danny had written up about himself, his skills and services he offers as a long term care practitioner.

“How long has he been on the Islands?” Steve asked as he flipped through the pages.

“Going on 10 years,” Malia replied. “He’s been a registered nurse for nearly fifteen years.”

Mary bit her lip as she read over the letter that Danny wrote about himself introducing himself to future potential patient/clients.

“I…umm…I like him,” Mary said. She handed the letter to her aunt so she could read it. “How would we go about meeting with him?”

“Just like that?” Steve asked. He knew the guy read well from everything Malia presented to them, but he didn’t feel they should go with the first person presented to them.

“I didn’t say we should hire him,” Mary said with a roll of her eyes. “Just that we should meet with him. He might not even be available.”

Malia moved some papers on her desk and picked up a tablet. She pressed a few keys on the virtual keyboard and pulled up a schedule of nurses. “Right now he’s on duty in the hospital. If you really want to meet with him, I can leave a message for him to contact me tomorrow and we can arrange something then.”

“Do it,” Deb said with a decisive nod. “I’d like to meet him as well.”

Steve sighed. “I guess I’ve been outvoted and we’re going to meet him. Please leave with message with him, Malia. Thank you.”

+=+

“I thought today was your day off, Danno?” Seven year old Charlie asked as he watched his father get dressed.

“It is, but sometimes I have to go in for special meetings,” Danny replied. After living in Hawaii for nearly ten years, he was grudgingly accepting that he didn’t need to wear a tie every time he met with potential patient/clients he would be providing care for. He was also under the watchful gaze of his seventeen year old daughter who he suspects burned all of his ties in retaliation for some perceived slight he did towards her.

“He’s going to meet with a new family,” Grace said as she made her father and brother breakfast. “Remember Danno helps families who have someone with cancer. They can’t always take care of them because they aren’t lucky enough to have someone like Danno living with them, so they interview and hire someone.”

That wasn’t exactly how it was, but that was how he’d explained to Grace when she was Charlie’s age and it seemed the explanation stuck and was now being used with her brother.

“That’s right. This new family I’m going to meet thinks that I would be a good fit to care for their sick Aunt.”

“Of course you are,” Charlie said with confidence. “You’re the best and you took care of mom until she died.”

Danny smiled sadly at his son. The level of confidence the little boy had in him was amazing and helped him through so many times when clients eventually succumbed to their illness and died…like his ex-wife Rachel had done three years earlier.

+=+

“Hi, I’m Danny Williams,” he said as he held out his hand to Steve. “You must be Steve McGarrett?”

Steve stood up, reached out and shook Danny’s hand. “I am, nice to meet you.”

“Mrs. Cassano and Mary?” Danny asked as he faced Deb and Mary.

“Please, call me Deb.” She said in response. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’ve seen you around the hospital,” Mary said by way of greeting. “I’m one of the nursing students under Dr. Waincroft.”

“Ahh, yes. Nurse McGarrett,” Danny said with a smile as he pulled out a chair and sat down. “The doctors in pediatric oncology have talked about how well you are with the children.”

Mary blushed some. She liked working in that section of the hospital, but it often hit too close to home because of Joan.

“Thank you,” Mary said. “It’s not really where my interests are, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my all.”

Danny smiled. “That’s great to know. Nurses should be able to do a little bit of everything to be the best help for everyone…,” he looked at Steve and Deb, “and that’s where I come in. Malia tells me you’re in need of a caregiver?”

“Yes. I have cancer and it’s time for Mary and Steve to have more professional help,” Deb said.

“I’m sorry to hear that you have cancer,” Danny said with a sincere look on his face. “How long have you had it?”

“For five, almost six years,” Deb replied. “Not consecutively.”

“Wow. That is still a long time to be suffering,” Danny said. “You’re obviously a fighter and that’s great.”

“I’m glad someone other than us is telling her that,” Steve said as he reached out and gently rubbed his aunt’s hand. “We’ve been telling her for years now, but I don’t think she always believe us.”

Danny laughed some. “I don’t know your particular case, but I get the feeling that when you go, it will be on your own terms.”

Deb nodded. “That’s exactly it. I want to live to a ripe old age and I’m almost there.”

+=+

“While we get things settled with the new caregiver, I’m going to be office bound,” Steve told Chin and Lou. “Danny starts tomorrow and Mary’s started a new rotation with Malia and I want her to concentrate on that.”

“Tell us something we don’t know…” Chin said. “We told you time and time again over the last three years that you take all the time you need to care for Deb. Ohana.”

Steve rolled his eyes some. “Right, well did I tell you that Junior decided to join us full time now?”

“I had a feeling he wouldn’t be away for long,” Lou said. “He handled that dustup we had in London with Nick Taylor and Billy Harrington really well.”

“It’s like you guys can run yourself without me being around…,” Steve joked. Chin and Lou laughed.

“Well…it is sometimes easier when you take a backseat,” Chin added with a shrug. “I mean, it gives us all a chance to shine here.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Well since you have it under control, I’m going to duck out early so I can pick up Joan from school and get started on dinner.” He gathered his bag and jacket, “I expect everyone who is in town for the cookout this weekend at my place.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Lou said. “I’ll be sure to let the others know.”

+=+

“If the schedule needs to be changed, I’m very flexible,” Danny said. “I don’t do many hours at the hospital and you’re within walking distance that my kids know where to find me if anything comes up.”

“You know they’re more than welcome to come here after school,” Mary said. “Steve will be here most days because of Joan so I know he won’t mind if Charlie is around as well.”

Danny smiled at Mary’s generosity. “That’s kind, but I try to keep work and home life separate.” Mary nodded in understanding, she already had to build up the barrier between home and work life and it was hard.

“So we’re good with three days a week?” Steve asked. “Monday, Wednesday and Friday with one weekend a month.”

“If that works for you, then it works for me,” Danny said. “What about her doctor appointments with Dr. Waincroft?”

“We have those days scheduled off,” Mary said. “If you’re able to come to the appointment, that’s great, if not, that’s okay. I’m if there’s anything that’s important, she can share directly with you or I will be able to tell you.”

Steve had given Danny access to the appointment calendar that contained all of Deb’s appointments so he was able to look them over. “It looks like for this month, I’ll be able to go to all but two of them – those were the two days I said I was unavailable because of school activities with Grace and Charlie.”

Steve and Mary looked at each other, “Was there anything else?” Steve asked.

“Lunch with Nicky,” Deb reminded.

“Lunch with Nicky?” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” Deb replied with a nod. “Every Wednesday I have lunch with Nicky Demarco.”

Danny looks from Deb to Mary and Steve, who nod. “Okay. Where does this lunch take place?”

“Here on the lanai. He usually brings something from his restaurant or fresh food to cook here.”

“Good to know,” Danny replies. “Anything else?”

Steve and Mary look at one another again before turning to Danny, “Welcome to the family.”

  
**~~FIN~~**


End file.
